


Day 5: In A Past Life

by ShahHira



Series: Kaigami Week 2020! [4]
Category: JUDGE EYES: 死神の遺言 | Judgment, 龍が如く | Ryuu ga Gotoku | Yakuza (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Western, American AU, Canon-Typical Violence, Everyone's a cowboy, Gen, M/M, Slight spoilers, think LA Noire style
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:35:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23951647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShahHira/pseuds/ShahHira
Summary: Yagami goes yeehaw.
Relationships: Kaito Masaharu/Yagami Takayuki
Series: Kaigami Week 2020! [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1721029
Kudos: 6





	Day 5: In A Past Life

**Author's Note:**

> Interesting fic ideas I have, lol. This is supposed to be Day 5: Past/Future, but I don't really watch any Japanese historical samurai films or stuff like that so I just plopped them into mid-20th century LA and threw cowboy references in there because I'm uncreative and an overbearing American. I actually wanted to do an Ishin setting but I haven't played that game either. Either way I hope this is entertaining at least!

Kaito throws the stack of money onto the desk. “‘Nother job well done."

Yagami exhales smoke as he looks up from the paper. He raises an eyebrow. "How in the hell did you manage to finish that dirty job up without a scratch on you?"

Kaito sits down, spreads his arms wide, all confidence. "It's just that Kaito magic! You're not the only one who can sweet talk their way out of an ugly situation. I'll teach ya my tricks sometime." He tosses his hat onto the coat rack like a frisbee. "Glad you joined up with me in the big city yet, huh, Tak?"

"Hmph. What I'm glad for," he turns the page, "is that I managed to get us both out of the deepest hell pits of this city and turn our decidedly illegal thing into a legitimate detective agency."

Kaito laughs lightly. "Don't matter. Long as we're together, nothin'll stop us from solving the biggest mysteries in Los Angeles since the forties!"

"All I'm impressed with is the fact that I don't have to patch you up this time." He sets the newspaper down, running a critical eye over his trusted and beloved partner. "Sure you're not hiding any bruises from me, Mr. Kaito?"

"Why don't you come and find out for yourself?"

Kaito smirks, crooks an alluring finger his way. The cigarette is crushed as Yagami plants himself onto his lap, intent on finding any hidden injuries. He shakes off the layers; his denim jacket the first to go.

"Walk like a cowboy, act like a cowboy, dress like a cowboy," Yagami mutters absently, "that’s rich coming from the guy who's never left the city."

"I told you, my gang picked me up from a dinky town on the border of bum-fuck Nevada before I was oh-so-lovingly betrayed and had to start all over in this city."

"You were doing the right thing. I helped you expose their corruption." Slim hands twist in Kaito's thin undershirt. "And I hate them for doing that to you," Yagami whispers that last part.

Kaito distracts him with a kiss, hoping to smooth away those furrowed lines his partner's developed for him and his troublemaker self. "Well I'm here now. And I ain't goin' anywhere."

______

Laughter Yagami thought he'd never have to hear again set off high above him: loud and mocking, much like the man it came from.

"Hamura!" He roars. "Show yourself!"

The darkness of the abandoned hotel sends spiders crawling underneath Yagami's skin - but then lights switch on and Hamura's slimy grin dripping down from the upper level is undoubtedly ten times worse.

"Hamura," and there's no trace of forgiveness in Yagami's voice, not when he sees Kaito tied up to the chair behind him, going in and out of consciousness, bleeding from his abdomen, "let Kaito go."

Hamura barks a laugh. "Oh, Tak, buddy. You know I can't do that. Our little traitor here needs to pay his family back for the humiliation he's put us through."

The dirty job yesterday. The pound of money Kaito acquired. The night they drank away, and the next morning when all that was left of Kaito was a scrap of paper with a threat on it. Was yesterday's arrangement all just a ruse?

“We made a  _ deal _ ,” is all Yagami can say, the pained groan Kaito gives when Hamura claps a hand down on him making him see red.

"Oh, Tak," he waves a jeweled hand, "you think we're fools. You're so naive to think pretty words make a lick of difference in this day and age. I'm warning you now: don't dig any further into Mayor Kido’s business.

"And maybe I won't have to fucking bury your precious Mr. Kaito six feet under to get you to stay silent."

Shapes manifest from the shadows, turning to sinister human forms. Matsugane family and the local mafia. No guns. They're here to teach a lesson and make it hurt.

"Once dirty, always dirty," he points to Kaito, “And he’ll never escape that life. Suppose you'll join him too. Hmph. Meddling brats, the both of you. I almost feel bad.”

Opulent stairs bring Hamura down. He sheds his outer coat along the way, cracking his knuckles. He keeps the gaudy rings on. A sleek shadow drops from the rafters on the other side: a refined man with pushed back ink-black hair, wielding a long polished cane and a sharp smirk.

There’s too many enemies for Yagami to take on but retreating is not an option. Throwing his hat to the side he lengthens his stance, willing his body to remain loose and flexible despite the fury lighting his blood on fire. Hamura and the Cane Man run at him. Yagami waits for the perfect moment - raises a knee, ready unleash a swift kick…

A ghost of a blur whizzes past Yagami and straight into Cane Man’s face, knocking him a good few feet back. Yagami doesn’t have time to process the unexpected backup before Hamura yells, barreling into him. They roll around the musty carpet, biting and snarling. Yagami goes for a risky headbutt, briefly dazing the both of them.

Dust flies off the shelves. The walls moan with each punch. Grunts overshadow creaky floorboards. Hamura stomps down hard on a downed Yagami, who feels the ground splinter through his back. Acid climbs up his throat but he grits his teeth.

“Mr. Yagami!”

A familiar youthful voice rings across the foyer - and is closely followed by a long object twirling through the air and colliding straight into the back of Hamura’s head.

“Argh!”

He goes down like a sack of bricks. Yagami struggles under the dead weight, panting hard as he rolls him off. He finds a hand waiting to help him up.

“I thought I could count on you to keep a cool head, Mr. Yagami,” says Sugiura, hauling him up with a strength hidden underneath those baggy clothes. “At least give us a heads-up when you go runnin’ off on your own like that!”

His words are only half-serious, much like how he goes about his life. Yagami, though, is still catching his breath trying to catch up. “How… how did you know I was here?”

“I always got an eye out for you two.”

Kid’s full of mysteries, this one, winking at him all carefree like they weren’t about to be mobbed by a bunch of gang members. Still, it emboldens his attitude, grateful to have an ally by his side. “Ain’t that comforting, to be watched 24/7 by a thief?”

“Ahem,  _ reformed  _ thief. Give me some credit, Mr. Yagami!”

The Cane Man makes a gesture and the shadows from before start to take shape. They’re surrounded by guys with mean mugs, Mafia and Matsugane alike.

“We don’t got much time,” reminds Sugiura, grave. “Mr. Kaito’s not looking good with that bullet in ‘im.”

“How’re we going to get past all these--”

Church bells ring in the distance. Cane Man and his gang close in on them, brandishing crude weapons and murderous looks. By the fifth ring, the rhythmic sound of hooves drown out all other noise.

“YEEEHAW!”

The front doors crash open. Thunder and chaos waltz in on horseback; the accompanying discharge of guns scatter the crowd. Horses rear up to neigh their battlecries, riders pulling hard on their reins.

“Howdy, Mr. Yagami!” Mafuyu shines a bright grin, completely in her element. She downs three guys and reloads her pistol. “Heard you were in a pickle.”

“Mafuyu?” Last he heard she was off building her own town out near the desert. What was she doing here?

“We’re here to save your ass, silly!” She shoots someone behind him. “Now stop dilly-dallying and pay attention! My gal Saori and Mr. Higashi will get Mr. Kaito outta here safe ‘n sound, don’t you worry.”

More ladies on horseback flood the hotel, whooping and hollering at the retreating men. Yagami spots Higashi talking softly to Kaito, pulling out various materials from an open briefcase, Saori next to him; together they heave him onto her horse.

Yagami wants nothing more than to ignore the chaos around him, ignore the growing mystery of what exactly Mayor Kido’s doing to the people of this city, ignore Hamura groaning and getting up from the ground. 

“T...Tak?”

He figures he can, just for a little bit.

Kaito’s looking at him with lidded eyes, but even that seems to take too much effort. He’s slumped back into Saori, who’s holding him upright in the saddle. It’s disquieting how limp his hand is, but Yagami takes it anyway, pressing a desperate kiss to skin freely dripping with blood. 

“You were tough as nails, Mr. Kaito. You did your part. Now leave the rest to me.” He looks at Saori. “Keep me posted. Don’t let him out of his cot, y’hear?”

“Darn tootin’,” she says, quiet and bold.

Reins in hand they take off. Now, Yagami can turn his full focus to the task at hand. Sugiura helps drag Hamura to a chair, tie him up with fancy hotel ribbons. The building is deathly quiet once more, this time housing an interrogation.

“Now,” Yagami takes out a pencil, taps it against Hamura’s forehead, “I’ll show you just how powerful pretty words can be.”


End file.
